Mohali, March 13
A dull show by the Kings XI Punjab team and local hero Yuvraj Singh at the PCA stadium left the spectators disappointed.

The hopes of spectators, who were expecting a big score from Kings XI, were shattered with quick fall of wickets. The failure of Yuvraj Singh, who was out for just four runs, added to their frustration.

Disappointment was writ large on the face of co-owner of Kings XI Pretiy Zinta when the scoreboard read 44-4.

However, there was no dearth of support for the Punjab team. Every boundary that came from the blade of the Kings XI batsmen was cheered. “This is what we are aiming at,” said a Kings XI official, referring to the supportive crowd.

In an effort to win the support of local buffs, the visiting team, Delhi Daredevils, also distributed T-shirts and team’s flags to spectators.

During the inauguration ceremony, Arnav Chakravarti from Kolkata won the top honours in the first round of the ‘IPL Rock Star Singer’ contest.

The organisers’ claims of the ceremony being attended by Dharmendera, Sunny and Bobby fell flat as they failed to turn up. Almost empty VIP stands also defied their other claim that they had sold almost all the tickets of the match. However, ace shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathod was present in the corporate box.

Meanwhile, the ticket holders were a happy lot due to the high-tech security system installed at the stadium gates. Unlike the previous matches, there was no rush of gatecrashers.

The idea of plying a shuttle bus service from the parking lots to the stadium also attractedlittle response.

Chandigarh, March 13
The land acquisition policy of the Chandigarh administration has come under a cloud again, with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) rubbishing its reply to audit objections.

In response to the reply of the administration to the MHA audit objections, the ministry has doubted the intentions behind the acquisition of land from UT farmers at low prices and its allotment to private companies at throwaway prices.

It has also rapped the administration for its lack of dialogue with the MHA on the formulation of the National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy, saying the administration has chosen to divert attention from relevant issues.

The special audit of the MHA had criticised the administration severely for acquiring commercial land at low prices and allotting it to private players at prices lower than market rates.

In response to audit objections, the administration had defended the land acquisition policy, claiming that the land had been acquired under relevant rules and regulations.

Picking holes in the administration’s reply, the latest ministry missive claimed that the rules had been given a go-by in the auction of land to private parties.

It also alleged that various provisions of the General Financial Rules had been violated, land had been allotted without inviting bids and terms and conditions had been changed after the award
of contract.

Coming down heavily on the bogey of public interest by the administration while pushing mega-projects, it alleged that all norms had been flouted while land had been allotted at the whims and fancies of officials.

Chandigarh farmers were already up in arms against the lopsided policies of the administration. While land had been being acquired at about Rs 2 crore per acre in Mohali, the compensation was much less in Chandigarh.

Mohali, March 13
Activists of the Global Human Rights Council, the Shiv Sena Hindustan and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad protested at the gate of the PCA stadium here today.

They were agitating against the owners of the Kings XI Punjab team for using the name of martyrs while promoting the game. They demanded the registration of a case against them. One of the organisers of the event, Col Arvinder Singh, later came outside the stadium to apologise on bahalf of the owners.

“We regret that our recent advertisement, portraying known leaders from the past, has hurt the community. We apologise to the people and the advertisement will be recalled with immediate effect,” Preity Zinta said. 

Chandigarh, March 13
Adding another feather to its cap, the Society for Rehabilitation of Mentally Challenged (SOREM) has tied up with the Global Autism Project, New York, for a special training programme for care of autistic children, which begins early next month.

Beginning with the city, the programme will cover the entire region in the coming years under a detailed plan.

In the pilot project, the workshop will involve trainers, parents and 10 autistic children. Project leader Molly Pinney will collaborate on the project, drawn up over five to seven years.

The non-profit organisation partners local individuals to provide quality service to individuals with autism worldwide.

Molly has worked with children with autism for approximately 10 years. She had started the organisation while living in Ghana, West Africa.

Talking to the Chandigarh Tribune, Promila Chandermohan, activist of SOREM, said the centre would be the nodal agency for the programme.

It would subsequently be extended to the entire region. The faculty would have specialists coming from US in a tie-up with the GAP.

Managing the affairs of an institute at Sector 36, 79-year-old Chandermohan rued that the UT had not been extending any financial support for the special programme.

“We expect greater citizen participation in the care of special children in one of the most educated cities of the country. Even the parents of special children, barring a few, do not show the interest required in the care of a special child.”

Chandermohan said, “Citizens need to involve themselves in the care of special children. Financial aid is paramount, but personal involvement will be better. There are cases of certain parents sending their ‘normal’ children to spend some time with special children. They will know them better, understand their requirements and contribute to their betterment.”

She said, “We are attempting greater citizen education on the subject of autistic children. A highly placed woman quit her job recently to take better care of her special child.”

She asserted, “It is incorrect to say that autistic children avoid eye contact, which often leads a ‘normal’ person to believe they are mentally unstable. This is because at least 25 per cent of them are brilliant. Even if they do not make eye contact, they continue their work normally.”

Chandigarh, March 13
Panjab University Senate may be patting its back for introducing historic reforms in the examination system, but the tech-savvy students have found innovative ways of copying in exams.

Right from GPRS system to blue tooth in mobiles, the trend to “misuse” the technology is increasingly becoming a concern for educationists.

With the Panjab University now finding ways of tighten the noose on the perpetrators, the students have bypassed all measures to check copying in exams.

Each year, as many as 200 cases of “Unfair Means Case” (UMC) are registered with the PU authorities, reported from over 300 examination centres across Punjab and Chandigarh. Out of these 50 per cent verified, while the offenders in other cases escape due to lack of evidence.

PU conducts examinations for nearly 180 affiliated colleges and for over 2.5 lakh students out of which a fraction of such incidents are noticed every year, where students indulge in high-tech copying tactics.

Recently a case was reported in which a student was caught carrying images of more than 25 pages of his textbook in his camera phone and later zoomed the screen to copy contents in the exam.

In yet another case, a student was caught with a blue tooth wireless adjusted in his ears, his mobile was recovered from the toilet, which received inputs from a town in Utter Pradesh, where a person was dictating content to the boy in the exam centre.

Besides, the tedious process of coming to Panjab University each time, a case of UMC is scheduled for hearing, which the teachers do on their own expense, discourages the superintendents from making cases of UMC, even if they catch the students.

Even the flying squad deputed by the authorities for surprise check at the centres hardly gets registered.

Controller of examinations, PU, informed that the mobiles had been strictly banned in the examination hall in the past after the increasing number of cases were reported.

Chandigarh, March 13
Common socio-economic problems can be taken up jointly by countries in the Indian subcontinent, but the governments’ stance and bureaucratic procedures are a detrimental factor in such initiatives.

Stating this here today, HK Dua, Editor-in-Chief of The Tribune, said attempts to bring people across the borders together hadn’t succeeded because of the governments’ attitude.

“Procedures are creating divides which harm the cause to bringing the people together,” he said, while delivering the keynote address at a seminar ‘Cooperate Development, Peace and Security : Women Guiding the Destiny of South Asia’ at the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development here today.

Had there been peace in the region, Indian would have wielded tremendous power on the world stage as issues like poverty, malnutrition and education would have been addressed effectively. The peace process has been left on the governments and there are elements who thwart all efforts to make it work, he added.

The aim of the seminar was to discuss the role of women as agents of social change and their contribution in socio-economic development. Women journalists also presented their perspective on their role in the media pertaining to building bridges and changing mindsets.

Joint-Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, Navdeep Suri and Prof Veena Sikri from Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi, also spoke on the occasion. Delegates from India, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives Afghanistan and Pakistan also attended the seminar.

Chandigarh, March 13
The much-awaited bonanza of Indian classical music and dance, the Bhaskar Rao Nritya and Sangeet Sammelan unfolded the magic of Odissi dance and the electrifying jugalbandi by Barman Bandhus at the Tagore Theatre here today.The annual programme organised by the Pracheen Kala Kendra featured the doyenne of Odissi dance Meera Das, who commenced with traditional invocatory “Mangalacharan” followed by “Nritta”, the pure dance by Meera Das and her seven-member group.

A solo performance of Ashatpadi from Jayadev’s Geet-Govind and later “Pallavi”, implied elaboration and exposition of both dance and music in the next presentation. The lyrical movements, supported by intricate rhythm and complex patterns matched in the choreography piece “Ahalya” and concluding “Moksha” which won tremendous applause. Earlier, jugalbandi by Barman Bandhus with Madhusudan on tabla and Gopal on the sreekhol left a powerful yet refreshingly different impact on the audience.

Barman brothers went on to delineate various technical aspects of instrumental music before presenting qaida, rela, parans, tukre, chakradar, gat paran, and compositions set to rupak and jhap taal, among other technical pieces.

The duo made the concert more appealing and enraptured the audience with their ability. The performance attained climax in the “sawaal-jawaab” which kept the audience in rapt attention. Young sarangi maestro Fakruddin Dhaulpuri provided admirable support on Nagma.

Earlier, Guru Shobha Koser and Sajal Koser welcomed the chief guest Pradeep Mehra IAS. Vocal music wizards Pandit Rajan-Sajan Misra and Bharatnatyam maestro Saroja Vaidyanathan will perform on the concluding day tomorrow.

Mohali, March 13
In the backdrop of the Women’s Reservation Bill being presented in and passed by Rajya Sabha and to discuss its prospects in Lok Sabha, faculty members of the Sahibzada Ajit Singh Institute of Information Technology and Research, Mohali, held an interactive session on the topic recently.

The session started with the views of Dr Harish Kumari, director (management), who said the reservations at the legislature level, if not implemented properly might not serve the purpose of women empowerment in the country. On this, various faculty members came out with their opinions and suggestions.

Concluding the session, Prof Girish Jaswal, director, explained the finesse of this bill and gave an insight into the advantages and the flaws associated with it. He said that such discussions were conducted to keep the faculty updated with current affairs so that they could impart practical knowledge to students in addition to the regular classroom teaching.

Over 45 faculty members of the department of management and department of IT, (majority of them being women), participated in the session.

Chandigarh, March 13
With the rains remaining elusive, the city recorded a maximum temperature of 29.2 °C, the highest of the season so far.

Earlier, the city recorded a maximum of 29 °C on March 2 and 3. The day temperature has witnessed a gradual rise from the beginning of March. After hovering around 25 °C for some days, the mercury has now touched 29.2 °C due to lack of rains.

The city also witnessed rise in he minimum temperature that touched 15.3 °C against 14.2 °C recorded yesterday.

Officials of the Met department attributed the rise in temperature to lack of rains in the region.

The Met office has forecast partly cloudy sky in the coming days. However, hot conditions are likely to persist. The maximum and minimum temperatures would be around 30 and 15 °C, respectively, in the next 24 hours. 

Chandigarh, March 13
Students of commerce department at Government College for Girls, Sector-11, bid farewell to the outgoing students of Bcom (III) here today.

Achla Dogra, college principal, was the chief guest. The auditorium presented an elegant look, which was highly appreciated by the audience.

The students gave a kaleidoscope of events ranging from songs, dances, medleys, choreography, modelling and 
mimicry.

The outgoing students displayed innovative skills for their teachers in the form of PPT presentation. The dances performed on a medley of foot-tapping numbers moved the audience. Fashion-cum-modelling show by the outgoing class enthralled one and all. Prachi was awarded Miss Commerce, while Shivani and Shabani were Ist and 2nd runners up, respectively.

Miss Elegant was Manisha and Miss Charming was Akanksha, while Ankita was adjudged Miss Talented.

Chandigarh, March 13
In continuation with the ongoing CBSE Class IX examination paper duplication in various city schools, a Sector 9-based school today reportedly got a maths paper which is a replica of the one used by a Sector 32-based school.

The matter came to light when a few students who were “revising” the paper of Sector 32 school, were shocked to find their examination paper an exact replica.

“I had got the paper of other school from one of my friends and was surprised to find my exam question paper to be same. We told our teachers about it after the paper,” said one of the students.

This is not the only case, as with the CBSE setting the Class IX papers for all schools many of them ended up having the same paper. While all turned a blind eye to the problem, Scared Heart School decided to go in for re-examination.

It may be noted that the CBSE, though initially, washed its hands off the problem, it has recently given an option to all schools to re-examine the students using new papers uploaded on its website which can be accessed using a specific password.

However, the schools are not excited about the idea as one of the office-bearers of the Independent School Association asserts: “Initially, when we brought this issue up, they said they could not set different papers for all schools. With board having done nothing about the duplication, we were forced to conduct the exams and give benefit to the students. Now when results are ready they have given an option of re-examination. The latest question papers will suffer the same anomaly as re-examination will be scheduled at different times and limited edition of papers are bound to repeat.”

The CBSE, in a bid to bring uniformity to Class IX examination system, had set the Class IX papers for all schools. The papers were loaded on CDs and sent to schools that were also given a password to access them.

The plan backfired when the schools made different date sheets and the limited sets of papers repeated in various schools.

Mohali, March 13
As many as 174 students were awarded degrees at the annual convocation of Government College here today.

Justice Swatanter Kumar, judge of the Supreme Court, was the chief guest at the function. While delivering his convocation address he congratulated the students who received graduate and post-graduate degrees. He stressed upon value-oriented education and urged the students to explore all options in life, face challenges and maintain a positive attitude.

Principal Nirmal Gupta welcomed the chief guest and presented the annual college report in which she highlighted the achievements of the institution.

Justice Swatanter Kumar declared the convocation open. Twenty six students were awarded the PGDCA degrees and 13 students from post-graduate departments of English and fine arts were conferred master’s degree. Seventy three students graduated from arts, 53 students from commerce and nine students from science streams. The students of music (instrumental) presented a soulful rendition of orchestra under the guidance of Sunita Bhatti.

Among those present on the occasion were Deputy Commissioner Prabhjot Singh Mand and SSP Gurpreet Singh Bhullar.